Shadowcaster (A Lego: Elves fic)
by SnarkyGoblin
Summary: A new human has shown up in Elvendale, and he has...odd powers, to say the least. How will his sudden appearance affect the elves, Emily, and Sophie, and how will his disruption of the peace affect the world around them? (T for a little bit of violence and some blood)
1. Introduction

**(A/N: While reading, I suggest listening to this:** **youtubedotcom/watch?v=_4COXTfo0Mc sub in an actual ".com" instead of the "dotcom")**

 **(obviously)**

For a long while, things were calm in Elvendale. No big threats emerged, no crisis to earth had to be averted, and everyone could just kick back, relax, and enjoy life. Even Cronan was enjoying the tranquility, for after nearly a year of long, tireless work undoing his wrongs, he had restored his former name, and instilled himself as a trustworthy, dependable character, granting advice to elves and his goblin subjects alike, and overall becoming a benevolent, just king (he and Rosalyn also got married. So, there's that). Yes, the peace and quiet was a luxury for everyone.

But, of course, good things don't last forever.

The day started out like any other. Birds chirped, insects buzzed, and things were quite pleasant at the elves' treehouse sanctuary. Emily and Sophie had come to visit, so there was plenty of fun to be had among the six friends. Currently, they were engaged in a competitive game of hide and seek, with Azari seeking, after having lost the previous three rounds.

And, after twenty minutes of searching without finding anyone, she was losing the fourth.

"Come one, guys, will at least one of you give up and come out?" Upon not receiving an answer, she huffed and stomped a foot on the ground, her patience waning. She stayed that way for a solid minute, until she saw a bush move out of the corner of her eye. She turned to it and gave a mischievous smile. At least she'd find _one_ of her friends. Before she could start making her way over to it, however, a figure dressed in dark clothes came out of the brush. He certainly didn't look like any elf Azari had ever seen.

His clothes were alien, wearing pants similar in fabric to Sophie's overalls, and he had on a weird-looking, hooded jacket over a dark gray shirt. His shoes looked like Emily's, only his were black. He also had dark hair, mostly covered due to an odd hat that he was wearing (a _beanie_ , as Emily would later tell her). The hat covered the tops of his ears as well, but there were two features about him that really jumped out at her. The first was the dagger on his belt. It was quite beautifully crafted. The hilt was short, and wrapped in some sort of black cord. The blade itself was flat and wide, both single-edged and curved. A black, oval-shaped gem was embedded in the blade, looking strikingly similar to Emily and Cronan's medallions.

The second and most striking aspect of him was the long tear in his shirt. Well, the tear wasn't the striking part. What was interesting is that it was caked in blood, and a large cut adorned his chest.

The boy locked eyes with her for a second before muttering in a desperate voice, "Help...me…" After those two words, he collapsed forward, landing face-first in the grass.

Azari stood stunned for a moment, before quickly regaining her composure and yelling as loud as she could, "Guys, come quickly! I need some help over here!"


	2. Chapter 1: An Unfamiliar Face

Aida, Azari, Emily, Farran, Naida, and Sophie all stood around the boy now lying on their table, his wound cleaned and dressed. His shirt and jacket (or _hoodie_ , as Sophie had called it) had been removed so that they could wrap the bandages around his torso. In removing his clothes, they also had to remove his hat, revealing that his ears were small, and he was, in fact, human.

"I still don't get it," Farran said. "How can there be _another_ human in Elvendale? Unless of course, you guys are related…?" He turned to the Jones sisters, hoping for an answer.

Emily shook her head. "I've never seen him before. But his clothes are definitely from Earth. They're all brands I recognize."

"But if you don't know him, how did he get here?" Naida wondered. "If he came in the portal after you, we definitely would've noticed."

"Are none of us going to wonder how he got that cut?" Sophie yelled. "I thought the forest was safe again, and now _this_ is happening!"

Aira piped up, "Sophie's right. After we defeated Cronan, the forest went back to the way it was. Unless he startled something, I don't see what could've done this." As Aira finished speaking, the boy's head turned to the side, and he let out an audible groan.

"Guys, look, he's waking up!" Azari said excitedly. The boy's eyes fluttered open, and he took in his surroundings, looking over each elf and human, soaking in all of their features.

Naturally, his first thought was of utter disbelief. "Well, I've been playing way too much DnD." He made an attempt to sit up quickly, but winced at the pain in his chest and laid back down, a hand over where he was cut. "Ow…"

Naida put out her hands. "Yeah, moving quickly might not be the best call. Just take it slow and relax. You don't want to open that wound back up."

"Right. Thanks," he said, clearly not really comprehending, well, anything. "Alright, weird dream people. Where am I?"

Sophie bent over to look him in the face. "We're not a dream, and you're in Elvendale, mister." She said "mister" like it were an insult, obviously taking offense to being called weird.

"Elvendale?" He asked. "So you guys are elves, and you live in a place called _Elvendale._ Yeah, that's not weird at all." He sat up again, but slowly this time, his dark hair falling over his face as he did so. He brushed it away and added, "And if you're all elves, then why do you two," he pointed at Emily and Sophie, "have regular ears? Or is this some Tolkien 'nowhere-in-the-legendarium-does-it-say-that-elves-have-pointy-ears' thing?"

Emily shook her head again. "This isn't _The Lord of the Rings._ Sophie and I are human, like you, but these guys are elves. These are Azari, Aira, Farran, and Naida." As she spoke she pointed to each of them in tandem. "They use the elements of一"

"Let me guess." The boy pointed at Azari. "Fire." He pointed at Naida. "Water." Farran. "Earth." Aira. "Air."

The elves were taken aback, and Farran asked, "How did you that?"

The boy said, "Simple. It's because the four elements lived in harmony, until the Fire Nation attacked." The elves were taken aback once again, and Emily had to suppress a smile at his reference.

"Alright fair enough. I'm Emily, by the way. Emily Jones." She stuck out a hand to the newcomer, who took it in his.

"Pleasure to meet you, Emily Jones." He donned a terrible english accent. "I'm Bond. James Bond." Emily raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, fine. My name is Keith Orman." He let go of her hand. "Okay, so I'm confused about something. Well, I mean, I'm confused about _everything_ , but right now I'm most confused by one thing. If you and mini-you over there are humans, and are wearing modern-looking clothes, how did you end up here?"

"Magic," Sophie answered simply.

"Yeah, no kidding, kid. I meant specifically."

Emily held up her amulet for him to see. "My grandmother was an elf. She was sent to Earth to protect the portal connecting our two worlds. As time went on, she became mortal, and when she passed, she gave me this. We use it to open the portal back up, and protect both Earth and Elvendale from threats."

Keith looked it over. "Hmm, interesting. It almost looks like the gem in my dagger." He pulled the blade from his belt and held it up next to Emily's amulet. "Actually, it looks _exactly_ like the gem in my dagger, only blue instead of black."

Sophie frowned. "That's super weird…"

"Yeah, it's also pretty weird how my grandma gave this to me when _she_ passed." An air of realization fell over everyone.

"Keith," Azari started. "How did you get here, exactly?"

"I was taking a walk through the woods, and when I walked past this tree, some kind of portal opened up, and I ended up at the business end of what looked like a dragon, which is how this happened." Keith made a gesture towards the bandages.

"Hey, Em, you sure you guys aren't related?" Azari asked.

Keith and Emily looked at each other for a moment. "Well, if there's anyone who would know, it would be Skyra."

"Sky-who?"

"Sky _ra_ ," Aira corrected. "She's one of the five sisters of legend. They each controlled an element, with Skyra controlling wind, our friend Cronan's mother Quartzine controlling earth, and the other two controlling fire and water. Emily's grandmother didn't have any powers per se, but she did have a lot of love in her heart, and _that_ gave her strength."

"Okay…" Keith took in this new information. "Well, let's go see this Skyra person. Or, uh, elf." He had stood up to leave when he remembered that he didn't have a shirt. "Um, if I could get my clothes back, that would be cool."

"Oh, right!" Naida ran off to fetch his cleaned clothes, and came back with them folded in her arms. "We mended the tear in your shirt as best we could, but it's still pretty obvious." She handed the clothes over to him, and he looked them over.

After he pulled the shirt on, he looked it over and frowned at the seam that had been created where the dragon had cut him. "Aw, man, this was my favorite shirt." He pulled on the hoodie and beanie, and the elves (and Sophie and Emily) led him out to Aira's airship. They climbed aboard and set out on their way, Azari summoning the fire needed to lift off. Once they were in the air, however, she took a seat and tried not to panic.

Keith, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear.

"Okay, this is too awesome for me to be dreaming!" Emily walked over to him, her hair blowing around her face.

"I felt the same way the first time I was here. We'll be at Skyra's soon, so try not to have your mind blown beyond repair before we arrive, okay?"

"Yup, sure! Definitely!" The ride, despite being fast, was actually incredibly smooth, and they managed to arrive at Skyra's in no time at all. They touched down in front of the massive building, Azari breathing a sigh of relief at being back on solid ground. Keith was still grinning like a madman, not caring about the strain the quick trip had had on his wound. He hopped down from the airship, only just then noticing the pain he was in. He wheezed out a breath and slumped against the side of the ship. "You know what? You guys go on ahead, I'll wait out here for a while."

Emily laughed and helped him to his feet. "Mind blown?"

"Nope. Chest. And stomach. And just like, this whole area of me." He waved his hands in circles around his abdomen.

"Right. You got hurt. Forgot about一" She was cut off by the sound of heavy doors opening, and they both turned to see a tall woman with hair that was incredibly light purple, held up by a headpiece that looked like golden wings going back across her head.

"So that's your great aunt?" Keith asked.

"Yeah. Come one, let's go talk to her."

The elves and humans approached the woman who greeted them with a curious smile. "Hello everyone." Her eyes fell to Keith. "You have brought another newcomer?"

"Yes, Skyra. This is Keith. He's a human, like me and Sophie. We were hoping you could tell us about him, and how he got here."

"Hmm." Skyra stared at Keith for a long while before asking, "You came through a portal, I presume?"

"Uh, yeah." Keith looked dumbfounded. His loss of words was almost comical. "Yeah, a portal opened up in a tree when I was walking past."

"Any idea how this portal opened?"

"I don't know. I figure it has something to do with my dagger, though." He drew the blade and presented it to Skyra, who took in a sharp breath of recognition. "I assume you've seen it before?"

Skyra looked visibly shaken. "Where...where did you get that?"

"My grandmother gave it to me. Her name was Triss…? That ring any bells?" He sheathed the dagger, slowly inserting it back into his belt.

Skyra closed her eyes. "Your grandmother. Was her hair black? Her skin pale?"

"Well I mean, her hair had gone gray, but yeah, it was black when she was younger. And she was super pale. Almost never got sunlight."

"What of her eyes?"

"They were pretty freaky. Her irises were so dark that you could barely see the pupil. Why?"

"Your grandmother's name was not Triss, Keith. Everyone, follow me. I have a story to share."


	3. Chapter 2: Revelations and New Magic

"There were _six_ sisters?!" Sophie yelled in disbelief, everyone marvelling at the reality-breaking news Skyra had just given them.

"Yes. Our sixth sister was a shadow elf, by the name of Umbris. She is Keith's grandmother." She waved her hand at Keith, who looked like his entire world had been turned on its head. Which, of course, it had.

"Yeah, ummm. No. Nuh-uh. No way. My grandmother was not an _elf_. She had tiny ears!"

"So did our grandmother. She became human after spending years on Earth," Emily told him. "She became mortal."

"Right. Because that makes sense."

"Wait, but why was Umbris on Earth in the first place? If she was supposed to protect the portal, why don't we know about her?" Farran asked.

Skyra let out a sad sigh. "Umbris was not tasked with protecting the portal. The reason she was on Earth is because we banished her from Elvendale."

"Banished?" Naida asked. "But why?"

"Long ago, before the Five Sisters tale had been spun, Umbris was a shadowcaster. She could manipulate the shadows into anything she saw fit. She could even use them to travel between multiple places, in what she called 'shadow walking.' She was the strongest of the six of us, and held that title proudly. But eventually...she grew to be distant. I daresay even corrupt. She used her magic to create the beings you all battled last year."

Aira gasped. " _She_ created that monster?"

"Yes, and many more like it. She wanted to use them to remake Elvendale in her image. We stopped her, of course, but she was too dangerous to keep here. So we banished her, and sent her through a portal. I had no idea that it led to Earth." She looked up at each person standing before her before continuing. "After banishing her, we erased her memory from the minds of this world's inhabitants, fading her practically out of existence." Her eyes rested on Keith. "I suppose she found a way to counteract the magic seal we placed on her dagger so that she couldn't come back. She just wasn't able to come back in her lifetime. So she sent you instead, Keith. As part of her bloodline, and as holder of that dagger, Ferrum Umbrae, you command the same power she did. I beg of you, use it well. Do not fall to the same predator she did."

Keith unsheathed his dagger and looked it over. "So you're telling me that because I have this thing, I can do shadow magic?"

"Indeed." He pointed the dagger at a dark corner, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. A dark tendril grew from the shadow snaking along the ground before being absorbed back into the shadow it had come from once Keith put the knife down.

"Welp. That's freaky." Azari said matter-of-factly, a dumbfounded look on her face.

"Okay, so are we _sure_ that not everyone here is related to us?" Sophie asked no one in particular.

Skyra turned to Sophie, Emily, and the elves. "I suggest you take him to meet Cronan. He should learn about his aunt."

Emily nodded. "We will." She turned to her friends. "Well, guys, it looks like we have a goblin king to see."

Keith gave a lopsided grin. "Oh, cool, I've always wanted to meet David Bowie."

The quip went over everyone's heads, save for Emily and Sophie, who each gave a small giggle.

Aira clapped her hands together. "Well, let's go, then!"

They descended upon Cronan and Rosalyn's castle, landing the airship where the throne used to be (a lot of bad stuff had gone down out there, at the hands of multiple people. The throne had been moved inside to prevent old wounds and such from reopening). As they landed, two familiar faces came through a door at the edge of the large, rooftop platform.

"Ah, hello again!" The Goblin King called, one arm around his wife's shoulder, the other extended out to his other side welcomingly. "What brings you all to the castle?"

Azari leaned over the guardrail and pointed at Keith. "This dude."

Keith leaned over as well and gave a quick two fingered salute. "Whassup?"

The four elves and three humans hopped down from the ship, greeting their friends with enthusiastic hugs. Well, Keith didn't hug anyone, but in all fairness, he didn't know Cronan or Rosalyn.

Once greetings had been exchanged, all attention turned to Keith. "So, you're human, like Emily and Sophie?" Rosalyn asked.

"Yup," he answered. He pointed a finger at Cronan and added, "And apparently we're cousins, so that's cool."

Cronan dropped the smile for a more confused look. "I, um...excuse me?"

Naida stepped forward. "Yeah, we have to explain some things." They told Cronan about the whole thing. Umbris, the dagger, Keith's powers.

After explaining everything, however, Cronan and Rosalyn looked even more confused than when they started. "Wait, so you're telling us…" Rosalyn's voice faltered. "But...how would...oh well this just doesn't make any sense at all."

"Doesn't make any sense to _you_? Imagine things from my perspective. Apparently I'm like, one fourth elf." Keith rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Also, I have an issue with some of these names. I mean, and earth elf named Quartzine, a wind elf named Skyra, and a shadow elf named Umbris? Is that just a coincidence, or一"

Keith's rant was cut off by a loud roar, immediately followed by Ashwing darting up above everyone's heads. She let out another roar before dive bombing at Keith.

Naturally, Keith screamed and hid behind the nearest person, who just so happened to be Sophie, who was almost a foot shorter than he was. It would've been comical, if it wasn't for the abject terror in Keith's eyes.

Rosalyn put her arms in the air and advanced towards the agitated dragon, trying to get her to relax. "Ashwing, what's gotten into you? Calm down!" The dragon landed in front of Rosalyn her teeth bared at Keith, who was still trying (and failing) to hide behind Sophie.

"Keith, why are you so scared? I get that Ashwing is kind of terrifying, but she's under control now," Farran asked, turning towards the cowering human.

"Well excuse me for being a bit apprehensive of the dragon that almost _killed_ me!" He shouted sarcastically, though it seemed as though some of his fear had dissipated, as he had stood up straight. "I'd rather not be buddy-buddy with it, you know?"

Rosalyn spun around and asked confusedly, "Wait, _killed_? Why would she attack you?"

"I don't know! I must have startled her or something when I popped out of the portal."

Rosalyn led out a heavy sigh. "Well, alright. I suppose you'll both just have to apologize, then."

Keith looked as though he had suddenly been slapped between the eyes. "Wait, hold up. _Apologize_? To _her_?" He pointed an accusatory finger at Ashwing, who sent back her regards in the form of a loud snarl.

"Yes. You, for startling her, and her for nearly killing you. Though, I will admit, she might be a bit more in the wrong."

"Might be?" He lifted up his shirt to reveal his bandages. "I almost bled out!"

"In all fairness, Keith, she _is_ a fully-grown dragon. You freaked her out, and she retaliated," Azari piped up.

Keith sighed, and his head fell. "I really don't have a choice here, do I?" Everyone shook their heads. "Alright fine." He walked up to the dragon, and looked her directly in the eye. "So, um, sorry I startled you, I guess. I didn't mean to, honest, I was just lost and confused." Ashwing responded by gently nudging him with her snout, her unspoken apology clear as day. Keith looked up at everyone else. "Alright, I think we're on good terms now." He looked around at the scenery visible from the rooftop platform and asked, "So, what's next? I still want to learn more about this place."

Aira smiled gleefully and bounced up and down. "Oh, we can show him our dragons at the sanctuary!"

"And we can give him a tour of Elvendale on the way!" Naida suggested.

"I'm down." Keith responded, a wide grin coming across his face. He turned to Rosalyn and Cronan. "It was a pleasure meeting the both of you." Ashwing let out a snort and smacked her head against his arm. "Yeah, yeah, it was good meeting you, too, you big lizard," he joked, before jogging toward the airship and giving a final glance over his shoulder.

He expected that he was really going to like this place.


End file.
